In Cased You Missed It
Ian Cheney ’98 Wins Prestigious Peabody Award
Alumnus Ian Cheney has joined the ranks of the elite in radio and television broadcasting as a Peabody Award-winner for his documentary film, King Corn. Established in 1940, the George Foster Peabody Awards honor excellence in broadcasting and recognize the most outstanding achievements in electronic media, including radio, television and cable. (www.peabody.uga.edu) In King Corn, Ian and best friend Curt Ellis move to the heartland of America to learn where our food comes from. With the help of friendly neighbors, genetically modified seeds and powerful herbicides, Ian and Curt plant and grow a bumper crop of America’s most-productive, most-subsidized grain on one acre of Iowa soil. When they try to follow their corn into the food system, what they find raises troubling questions about how we eat—and how we farm. Ian will receive his award at a ceremony hosted by NBC Nightly News anchor Brian Williams in New York City’s Waldorf-Astoria on May 18. Click here to read a Milton Magazine article about Ian and his documentary.
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Students Work on Navajo Reservation
Over Milton’s spring break, students experienced the unique opportunity of working on Navajo land outside of Flagstaff, Arizona, during the fourth annual community service trip. Sponsored by the Community Service Program, the trip included 16 students and two adults who, among other things, painted two buildings, cleaned a storage facility damaged by fire, dug outhouse holes, and repaired a children's merry-go-round and swing set. During their time on the reservation, volunteers learned about Native-American culture and enjoyed Navajo cuisine. The voyage concluded with a visit to the Grand Canyon. In past years, Milton’s community service groups have traveled to the Mississippi Gulfcoast and Belize.
Click here to view more photos of the trip.
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Milton Musician Selected for All-State Orchestra
Cellist Eric Fishman (Class II), a member of the Milton Academy orchestra and chamber orchestra, has been selected to participate in the 2009 Massachusetts All-State Orchestra. Selected for this honor through auditions hosted by the Massachusetts Music Educators Association (MMEA), Eric will perform with top high school musicians from across the state at the MMEA music festival on March 26–28. As part of the festival, Eric will perform Respighi Pines of Rome with the All-State Orchestra at Symphony Hall in Boston on Saturday, March 28, at 1 p.m.
The Massachusetts Music Educators Association is a federated state unit of the National Association for Music Education. MMEA is comprised of over 1,500 members, and its goal is to advance and strengthen music education in the state of Massachusetts.
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Anna Bulbrook ’00 Rocks with The Airborne Toxic Event
Alumna and viola player Anna Bulbrook might never have imagined that she would be the musical guest on the Late Show with David Letterman, or that she would sell-out a performance at Boston’s famed rock-haven the Paradise Lounge, or that she would find herself on a whirlwind musical tour of 30 shows in 30 days. Anna has done all that and more as the sole female member of The Airborne Toxic Event, one of this year’s most talked about rock bands.
The Airborne Toxic Event—named for a phrase from Don DeLillo’s novel White Noise—is a Los Angeles–based quintet whose music has been described as “an appealing mix of edgy power pop [with] soaring, anthemic qualities” (Patriot Ledger) and who have been likened to The Killers, The Strokes and U2.
Anna—who began studying classical violin at a young age and played jazz at Milton—attended Columbia University and then headed west to Los Angeles where she met Mikel Jollett, the band’s founder and singer/songwriter, through mutual friends. After a series of tragic events in Jollett’s life, and after a year of writing songs while struggling with that grief, he decided he had enough material for an album. Bringing together Steven Chen, bassist Noah Harmon, drummer Daren Taylor and Anna on viola and keyboard, The Airborne Toxic Event came to be.
The band’s self-titled debut album was produced by Majordomo, an independent West Coast record label, and was released in August 2008. The band developed an immediate and passionate fan base, as well as critical acclaim, right away.
Mikel Jollett has said of Anna, “She has this kind of energy that feeds off the audience, and yet she’s a very calming presence to us onstage. In some intangible way she draws people into our performance, just with the intensity she brings.”
Radio stations across the country are playing the band’s single “Sometime Around Midnight.” You can hear the song on local stations such as WBOS, WFNX and WBCN. Click here to see a live performance of this song on the Late Show with David Letterman. Click here to visit the band’s Web site.
Photo by Kristy Sparow.
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Grant Jones, Class II, Selected for the Governor's Statewide Youth Council
One of 28 teenagers representing the counties throughout the Commonwealth, Grant Jones will participate on Governor Deval Patrick’s recently created Statewide Youth Council. The Youth Council was formed to give young people access to the governor, to increase youth participation in government, and to give young people a significant voice in the decision-making process. Council members’ responsibilities motivate them to be involved in their communities and to participate in problem solving through leadership and planning roles. At quarterly meetings, the members discuss issues important to the young people in their communities and learn from other communities. They reach out to other young people, recruiting their participation in local councils and considering with them ways to address youth-related issues. Ultimately, Youth Council members submit recommendations to the Governor's Office about issues important in the lives of Massachusetts teenagers and about projects that young people might implement. Council members serve for two years, and during that time they participate in leadership training, educational events and development opportunities.
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Internationally Renowned Takács Quartet Performs at Milton
One of the world’s premiere string quartets, the Takács Quartet, performed on Sunday, February 22, at the 79th Annual Gratwick Concert in Straus Library.
The Takács Quartet performs ninety concerts a year worldwide, performing throughout Europe as well as in Australia, New Zealand, Japan and Korea. The Quartet's multi-award winning recordings include the Late Quartets by Beethoven that in 2005 won Disc of the Year and Chamber Award from BBC Music Magazine, a Gramophone Award and a Japanese Record Academy Award. Their recordings of the early and middle Beethoven quartets collected a Grammy, another Gramophone Award, a Chamber Music of America Award and two further awards from the Japanese Recording Academy (www.takacsquartet.com).
“Designed primarily to give students the rare opportunity to hear world class artists in an intimate setting,” said Don Dregalla, music department chair, “the Gratwick concert is held in Straus Library, a beautiful room with unparalleled acoustics.”
The Gratwick performance series was established by former Milton Academy faculty member Dr. Mitchell Gratwick as a gift to the School in memory of his wife Katharine Perkins Gratwick, a cellist and graduate of the Girls’ School, Class of 1924. Fostered through the present by family members, it has continued as an unbroken tradition for 79 years.
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Unveiling a Gift for the Ages
John Wilson Etching of Dr. Martin Luther King
Milton Academy’s recently mounted etching of Martin Luther King is expressive, complex, intense and striking. The drawing of Dr. King is the work of artist John Wilson, born in Roxbury, Massachusetts, in 1922. Mr. Wilson was selected in 1985 as the winning sculptor in a national contest to procure a bust of Martin Luther King for the U.S. Capitol Building. Mr. Wilson's drawing—a study for the sculpture—was recalled by its original lending institution from a traveling exhibition sponsored by the Smithsonian celebrating Rev. Martin Luther King, Jr's life and message. Artist, printmaker and Milton parent Jim Stroud suggested to Mr. Wilson that together they immortalize his drawing by rendering it as a copper plate etching. The marriage of drawing and copper plate was a challenging one. The two worked for months and developed successive, but less than satisfactory, results before the final image. In fact, 20 state proofs pulled from the copper plate witnessing the painstaking effort are now owned by the Boston Museum of Fine Arts. Jim Stroud and Janine Wong, parents of Ryder Stroud, Class I, made the decision last month to give the Wilson etching to Milton. Milton was especially fortunate that John Wilson was able to join Jim, Janine, students and faculty as the work on the wall of the Cox Library was unveiled and admired.
The renowned painter, sculptor and printmaker John Wilson graduated from Tufts University in 1947 and studied in Paris and Mexico City. He served as professor of art at Boston University from 1964 to 1986. He won prizes in national exhibitions from 1951 to 1969. His work is in the collections of the DeCordova Museum, the Smith Museum of Art, the Museum of Modern Art, and the University of Wisconsin. His most notable work, Eternal Presence, is at the Museum of the National Center of Afro-American Artists in Boston.
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